


Grief.

by ghosty_goo



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Graphic Description of Corpses, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Multi, i think you get it now, its just sad, just be warned okay this is kinda messed up im sorry--, like really sad, so much happens wtf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-01-03 09:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghosty_goo/pseuds/ghosty_goo
Summary: Skull is gone. The S4- no, the S3, can't focus. Aloha has isolated himself for days, Mask barely speaks, and Army... Army doesn't know how to keep them together anymore. Cod forbid himself.





	1. Home.

The sirens became a soft melody to Aloha. The ringing in his ears and the other two's were deafening, which the pink inkling considered good. He didn't have to listen to the ringing of death all around him. Mask was quivering. It wasn't even cold, but Aloha was still being rattled because Mask was shaking so violently as he held onto him with dear life. He said something. Right in his ear. He still didn't hear it. Aloha didn't have the mental strength to let out a confused "Huh?" or "What did you say?" So he simply muttered "I don't know." in a quiet, emotionless tone. Mask kept shaking. Army was speaking to authorities, right hand squeezing his left arm tight. He refused medical help until he got to tell officers what happened. They weren't happy about it, but they respected his wishes nonetheless. Even if he was bleeding immensely and his eye was squeezed shut due to damage. Aloha looked over at him. Then at the crash. It sent a bullet straight through his hearts. He lifted a hand in that direction, but dropped it soon after. He carefully placed it on Mask's hand and felt how cold he was. He almost threw his hand back down in surprise. Mask gripped Aloha's shirt tighter and mumbled something, which Aloha heard this time "Is... is he deeeaaad, Aloha?" Aloha whipped his head to the side so hard that he could of sworn it snapped. He looked at his cyan-coloured partner and carefully gripped his sleeves "No, he's not dead. He's just hurt, like the rest of us." he spat, his optimism coming off as aggressiveness. Mask peered to the right, the blinking red and blue lights highlighting his usually well-hidden eye bags. His mask had gotten destroyed in the crash, so he was wearing one of those surgical masks one of the paramedics gave him. He looked up at Aloha and muttered two horrid questions that the pink-haired inkling would never forget "Then why isn't he heeeeereee? With uuuuuuusss?" then Mask looked away again, seemingly embarrassed by his statement. But ther was no embarrassment in his tired eyes. Just pure, pain-inducing sadness. Why _wasn't_ he here? Aloha gazed at the crash again. The paramedics should still be there, right? They should have gotten Skull out of the car by now and over on the curb, where Aloha and Mask were. He should be safe by now. He should be with them. Before he knew it, Aloha was on his feet. He hurried over to the officer Army was talking to, watching from the corner of his eye as Mask wrapped the blanket they were sharing around himself. Army ceased talking and looked at Aloha "Ah- Aloha I was just-" Aloha shushed him and looked at the officer "Where is he?" 

"Aloha, this really isn't-" Army tried to save the conversation, but it was already too late. "Where is Skull? Shouldn't the paramedics have already gotten him out of the car by now?" Aloha said, feeling anger swell up inside him "Sir, please calm down, we-" Aloha let out an angry growl, which turned into a groan "Whatever. You better have fucking saved my boyfriend." He snapped before turning around, back to Mask. But he wasn't there. Aloha felt his pulse skyrocket and he whipped around, looking all over for him. He would've started crying if he hadn't seen Mask standing, gazing down at the car. Aloha almost sprinted over to him, well, he did, just not too fast. He skidded his feet across the ground, side-sliding like he does when dodging hits in turf wars. He lifted his hands to hold Mask, but he waved him away. Aloha felt his chest tighten, but dropped his hands to his sides, pulling himself closer to his partner. Mask swung his shaky arm around Aloha to wrap him in the blanket. They both stared quietly at the wreck, donning emotionless faces. Aloha knew Skull wouldn't have survived. He was in the driver's seat and that's always the worst spot to sit in a wreck. Aloha wished that he was in Skull's place. Mask was trying to accept a death he didn't believe happened. That was normal for him. He was always accepting of everything. Mask was the most grounded, only living in the present and not worrying about the future or clinging to the past. That was his deal. Aloha didn't get it. He focused on the fun, the bright future, the excitement of the unknown or soon-to-happen. Army was similar, just more serious. They didn't understand how Mask could just accept things as they came, not complaining or panicking or questioning everything. He was quiet, accepting, and forever open to change. It was nice. 

The moment was soon interrupted by two paramedics hurrying over, making Aloha jump in surprise. He had spaced out and didn't see nor hear the officer calling to the others. They found Skull. Mask loosened his grip on Aloha's shirt and Army somehow appeared right next to the two. His arm was bandaged, which was already stained blue with blood, and his eye had one of those cotton pads on it. It, too, was blue already. The trio watched as two paramedics hoisted... something out of a pile of leaves, broken glass, and blue puddles. Cod, there was so much blood. The trio could barely tell that it was Skull, with the only indicator being the outfit he always wore. Nothing seemed too badly damaged, he really looked fine. Fine, that is, till you looked at his head. It looked like a giant dent. Blood was still coming out of the wound. It was horrific. Disgusting. Having to watch the whole scene in real life made Army double over and vomit. Aloha felt like he was going to faint. Mask just cried. 

All four of them were taken to the hospital, Skull leaving the scene the fastest. 

None of them were ready for this. None of them wanted to believe it.

Skull was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi um. okay. thanks for reading haha um.  
i kno this is. way out of the blue but like. i really wanted to write a sad story. i know i have another story i need to work on but. this is already a favourite of mine lol.  
but! i hope you all like it. it's kinda dark, kinda sad, (well, not kinda, this whole thing is sad) but yeah! thanks for reading haha
> 
> (i promise i'll update my other story im sorry i will do that tomorrow i swear okay)


	2. Okay.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been three days since the crash. Why has nothing changed yet?

Three days. Three? No, that couldn’t be how much time had passed. But staring blankly at the calendar, it was. The sound of a door squeaking open signaled Aloha’s awakening. Mask lifted his eyes away from his game to stare at the freshly-woken slug of a man. Army was in the kitchen getting a drink. There was no sound except for blankets dragging against the carpeted floor. Aloha walked into the living room, shocked to see Mask there, on the sofa. “Why… are you here?” he asked, fixing his tired eyes onto Mask, who responded in his normal, sickly tone; 

“Army was woooorried… he waaanted to come over.” 

“Oh.” Aloha said, standing awkwardly as he fiddled with a stray thread coming from his blanket.

The sound of a notification exploded through the silence of the room and made Army nearly drop the cup he was holding. Mask flinched and let out a low growl. He lost. Aloha simply pulled out his phone and checked it “Yo, OG and Scuba wanna practice and junk, you guys wanna come?” He asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the device. 

“Suuuuure…” Mask said before looking at the entrance to the kitchen. Aloha did just the same. It was quiet for what felt like an eternity before Army spoke in a low tone. “I suppose.” Aloha took note and started typing, turning back to his room to get ready. As they waited, Army peeked out of the kitchen with a near terrified look. Mask looked up at him “Whaaaaat?” he let out, causing Army to sigh.

“Aren’t you worried about him?” Army asked

“Why shooouuuld I? He’s holding up fiiiine…” Mask looked back at his phone.

“That is the issue! He is not ‘holding up fine’! He had cried himself to sleep when his hamster died! How do you expect-“ Army was cut off harshly by Mask

“He’s trying, and don’t eeever talk about Steak like thaaat. She was the fiiiirst pet Aloha haad.” Mask’s eyes were as harsh as his words. He was still yet to buy another gas mask, or one that was good at least, so his eyes were much easier to see and be crushed under.

Army looked away, holding his cup close to his chest. Silence once again filled the apartment. The distant noises of the city were the only thing the two were able to focus on until the rhythmic footsteps of Aloha came down the hallway. When he entered the room, he recoiled, then tensed, feeling the bad vibes that were floating around. That was always something that impressed the other S4 and their teams. All of pink team was like Aloha, in fact. They all could immediately sense bad vibes. The apartment’s bad vibes, however, where interrupted by Aloha giving a blindingly bright smile.

Bad vibes: annihilated.

“Well, let’s get going, nerds! We’ve got practice to get to!” Aloha said happily, but Army still wasn’t convinced. But he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t afford to see the sunlight of the three be eclipsed.

Aloha practically ran to his teammates when he saw them. He snatched Scuba by the shirt sleeve and Octoglasses by the arm and crushed them together in a hug. Scuba laughed, wrapping and arm around Aloha. Octoglasses smiled sweetly and hugged the boys. This had never bothered the rest of the S4—S3. It was three now.—, not even the ever-protective Mask. Pink team had always treated each other like family, so this kind of embrace between them was more than common. 

After the nearly minute-long hug, Aloha let go and looked around the Square “Yo, where’s Straw?” he asked his teammates 

“We don’t know. She said she was busy n’ all that.” Scuba said, shrugging

“She totes just ditched us.” Octoglasses said before giggling 

Scuba shifted his gaze to her “What?” he asked

“She’s probs hangin’ with that Blue team girl~ Y’know, the short one.” She said, covering her smile with her hand

Scuba rolled his eyes and patted Octoglasses on the head “Sure. Keep tellin’ yourself that, OG.” he said jokingly as Octoglasses batted at his hand 

Aloha smiled at the two and then turned back to Mask and Army, who were talking to each other quietly. Army had snapped his head to the side so fast Mask could have sworn there was a pop. Mask then shivered in response before looking at Aloha “What’s uuup?” he asked. 

“I’ll tell ya what’s up, babe~!” Aloha winked, making Mask blush just a bit “Practice is! We haven’t practiced in three days!” Aloha said happily before his expression dropped.

His eyes grew more distant than the skyline, his sweet smile collapsing in on itself to form a small frown. The air grew heavier by the second and Scuba felt crushed under it. Octoglasses and Army both stiffened up. Mask crumpled up like a stepped on tin foil ball. Scuba reaches a hand towards his leader, a worried look on his face “Alo-“ Aloha’s head shoots up, facing forward, making Scuba throw his hand back to his side. Aloha’s eyes are cloudy but there was still emotion. 

Not a happy emotion. 

“I’m… I’m sorry, guys, I gotta go home.” Aloha said, putting a hand over his hearts. Army’s once neutral expression turned to one of fear. He tumbled after Aloha, his hand shakily holding onto his lover as he quietly spoke to him. 

Mask watched them for a moment before sliding his gaze over to the remaining pink inklings and spoke quietly. “Sorry about thaaaaat.” was all he said before the area around them fell silent. Scuba rubbed the back of his neck and Octoglasses drew small circles on the ground with her foot. Mask sighed deeply before speaking again “Wanna go to the caaaafeee? It might lighten the mooooood…” 

Octoglasses nodded harshly, her face showing concern. Scuba dropped his hand before shoving it in his pocket “Yeah. The cafe’s a good place to ‘lax. Ain’t that right, OG?” he asked, tilting his head to Octoglasses, who nodded “Yeah. Maybe I could invite Straw and her girlfriend~“

“I’m pretty suuuure Straw isn’t dating Bobble… or aaaaanyone for thaaat matter.” Mask said, looking down a his phone

The air around them was silent before Octoglasses burst out laughing. Scuba recoiled a bit, whispering “Ooooh” under his breath, which got a chuckle out of Mask. He started walking to the cafe, the pink inklings following suit. The two chatted endlessly with each other, Mask simply being a spectator. 

Soon enough, with the three sitting at a table with their food and drinks, Straw comes hurdling towards her teammates, grabbing them and hugging them the same way Aloha did. Mask looked up from his phone. Aloha. A sudden explosion of guilt hit him and before he knew it, he was on his feet and out the door. The remaining members of pink team watched in confusion. Scuba shrugged it off, though, and told Straw to take a seat.

Mask hurried into Aloha’s apartment, nearly dropping his keys. He scoured the entire place for any signs of Aloha or Army. After coming up fruitless, Mask went for Army’s apartment. He swung open the door, the clinking of dishes giving him a sense of relief. Army peeked out of the kitchen to see who had entered, and smiled sweetly when he saw it was Mask. He walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Mask closed his eyes and simply leaned forward to hold Army. The orange inkling didn’t expect this to happen, so he nearly fell over. Silence hung over the two of them before Army spoke, for what felt like the first time today.

“He’s not okay.” was all he could muster up before his whole body tensed.

“I know…” Mask said in response, tightening his hug around Army as he started crying. He was saying something, but his quick breathing and slurred words destroyed whatever was originally going to be said. 

The two stayed like that for more than a few minutes. The watch Army always had on ticked quietly, almost in tune with the wearer’s tears. Time ticked on with no end as the two stood silently in their embrace.

None of them were okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha you thought it would be a calm and relaxed chapter??????  
jeez what amateurs 
> 
> anyway sorry for not updating in like  
forever >.>  
hope you all liked this :3!


	3. Truth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mask finally tries to accept a truth he never wanted to.

Mask woke up. Something he did every single morning, at 9:30, on the spot. He would lazily reach for his phone and watch some matches. He much rather enjoyed watching newbies play, since it reminded him of when he first started off. He always quietly cheered for the roller mains. After watching a few matches, he go up from his bed. 

Normally, he would get ready immediately, but this morning he decided against it.

Normally, he would be the first to message his partners and ask if they wanted to practice. Even if Army woke up three whole hours before he did. On other, not-so-normal, days—such as today— he would sit in his bed and wait for Army to message him, Aloha, and Skull to ask if they wanted to practice. 

Normally, Skull would be the first to message back. Then Mask. Then, nearly an hour later, Aloha would say he was already good to go. He, normally, was not. 

But today was a not-so-normal day. Something felt off. It had already been 25 minutes, but Army had not messaged anyone. Not to Mask’s knowledge, at least. Mask looked at the clock on his nightstand, then looked at his phone. 

Normally, if Army and Aloha were extra busy, Mask would call Skull. Normally, Skull would pick up after the second time Mask would call him. Normally, since Skull is never busy, the two of them would go and practice together. 

Today must be a busy day for Army and Aloha. Mask decided that he should, and would, practice with Skull today. Mask hoped that maybe later today, just like normal, Army and Aloha would have all their plans cleaned up, and the four of them could all go and hang out together. But Mask wouldn’t know when their plans would clear up, so he decided—again— to practice with Skull this morning. 

But he couldn’t practice with Skull. Skull was dead. What? No. Skull wasn’t dead. He was never dead to begin with. Skull is still in the hospital. He just has a concussion from the crash. Yeah. That’s right. In fact, Skull’s birthday is next month. Skull would have already told Mask and Army and Aloha that by now. Or maybe the concussion made him forget? Yeah. That’s all. Yeah. Mask just needs to go to the hospital and tell Skull his birthday is soon and ask what he wants. He never wants anything, but maybe this year he will. 

Mask stood up from his desk chair and picked up his phone to call Aloha. The phone rang for quite some time before Aloha picked up, his voice tired but still sing-song

“Heeeyyyy Maskie-moo... what’s hangin’?”

“I was woooondering if you wanted to go see Skuuuull... at the hospital...” Mask said, picking at the fabric of his chair. 

There was a long silence on Aloha’s end before the sound of sheets being ruffled emitted from the device “Mask... Mask, he’s...” 

Silence. 

Aloha took a deep breath “Mask, Skull’s dead.”

Mask stared blankly into the distance before he shook his head in confusion 

“Whaaat..? No he’s noooot…” Mask said, standing up straight for once. His confusion only grew as the seconds passed.

Aloha sighed deeply before speaking “Baby… you were there at the crash, remember?” 

“Yeah. I was theeeere. They took Skull to the hoooospital. He’s still there.” Mask paused “Riiight?”

Aloha just sighed, making a quiet clicking noise before he quickly said “I’m sorry.” then hung up.

Mask took his phone away from his ear and stared at it. That was weird. Mask then proceeded to call Army, who answered almost instantly “Yes?” he said in his normal, slightly stern tone.

Mask was silent for a long time. He was able to hear Army’s watch ticking from behind the orange inkling’s phone. What Aloha said was still processing in Mask’s mind. Skull wasn’t…

“Is Skull dead?”

The words came out faster than Mask even knew. He could hear Army struggling with his words. It was silent on Army’s end for a long, long time. The only sound was his watch ticking, ticking, ticking…  
Out of nowhere, Army spoke in a near silent voice;

“Y… yes.”

Mask felt something inside him stop. Whether it was his breathing, his hearts, or time itself, something stopped. Was… was that why Aloha was acting so strange? Was that why Army is always so nervous? No… no. No, Skull’s still… He’s…

The phone slipped from Mask’s grip, thumping against the carpeted floor of his room silently. Mask blinked a few times, feeling his breathing pick up. His hearts pounded against his ribs. He put a hand on the side of his head, wracking his brain for any proof that Skull was alive. All he could remember was staring at the car. The car… the one the that crashed… yesterday? No, that wasn’t it. It was longer than that. A week? No, no, not that long. 

Mask stumbled, catching him off guard and sending him to the floor. He landed just on the massive bruise that had formed on his leg after the crash. Wait. Bruise? He never got hurt in the crash. Did he? Mask grew confused with every second. His head hurt. His leg hurt. 

He shifted himself into a sitting position. He pulled his knees up to his chest and held them in place with his arm. He glances around the room in a panic, his hearts still thumping uncontrollably. His vision blurred just a bit. He squinted, but it only got more blurry. He rubbed his eye with his free hand and it turned up damp. He was crying. But why? He… he shouldn’t be… what? 

His mind blanked.

He gazed at the floor with an emotionless face. Tears slipped down his cheeks and tapped against the cloth of his sweat pants. He blinked one, two times. He shook his head. His leg still hurt. Oh. Oh cod, it hurt. His body lurched, another surge of tears coming in. He quietly let the tears fall, whimpering. But the pain was fucking unbearable. It hurt so much. He pulled his legs closer to his chest, making it harder to take deep breaths. He just started sobbing. He tucked his head into his knees, body lurching with every open sob.

He then remembered what originally caused this. He thought back to Skull. Back to when they first met. Mask’s narcolepsy was so strong back then. He passed out in the middle of his battle against Skull’s team. Skull had picked up the sleeping inkling and took him to a bench to continue his forced nap. When he woke up, Skull was sitting next to him, playing a game on his phone. Skull had told him to get more sleep, his tone having been similar to Army’s.

What would normally be a nice memory, was now completely depressing. Mask just trembled in response to the memory. He didn’t want to believe that Skull was… Mask shook away the thought. No.

All the sudden, the sound of a door clicking open made Mask jump. He stared at his bedroom’s door and was surprised to see Designer Headphones be the first to peek into the room. The cat-faced inkling jumped slightly. He was surprised to see Mask. Specifically to see Mask crying. DH stared for a moment before whispering what could only be a quiet “Oh shit.” before he slipped out of the room. 

Mask was confused, but it distracted him from the other hundred emotions he was feeling. After a few, very long, very awkward, minutes, Aloha walked in with Army right behind him. Mask was near astonished by their presences. He was caught off guard, however. Aloha was all the sudden by his side, wrapping Mask up in a tight hug. Aloha was… crying?

Mask sometimes forgot that Aloha could cry. Or even feel negative emotions, for that matter. Army sat down next to Mask and rested his head on the blue inkling’s shoulder. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Aloha sobbing his hearts out. Soon enough, Aloha spoke softly, then broke into a shaky shout 

“I… I thought… I thought you fucking killed yourself, you asshole!”

But despite his harsh words, Aloha’s hug only grew tighter and his sobbing got stronger. Mask felt himself get washed with guilt after Aloha had said that. The thought had never crossed his mind, but if it had… Mask stared ahead, a saddened look on his face. 

The room was once again silent save for Aloha. Army was crying too, but it wasn’t as… intense. The three just sat there. Mask still didn’t want to believe that Skull was dead, but facts are facts. He never did stray from the truth. But just this once, he really wanted to stray as far away as possible from a truth he didn’t want to accept.

It once again hit him like a barrel of bricks.

Skull was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hai. 1 mor sad chp den we git a hapy 1. or do we O.o?


End file.
